Chapter 87

"Ah, Master!"

When we returned to the inn on Honjima, Filo greeted me in the form of a monster for some reason. I had told her to stay in human form at the inn.

"See you. Just so you know, don't get too familiar."

"I understand."

The first girl left to join the others.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, Laphelia-nee is angry."

"Angry...?"

That bastard Motoyasu must have finally caused trouble.

Just as I was thinking that, Motoyasu himself was sitting there, cheeks sunken and in a daze. What's wrong? He looked like his mind was elsewhere.

"Master Motoyasu?"

The first girl also found Motoyasu and was taken aback.

...I can't understand the situation. What happened?

"Filo, what happened?"

"Hmm? Filo doesn't know."

Of course not.

I was the fool for asking Filo.

Since there was no choice, I left Motoyasu to the first girl and went to look for Laphelia.

There she was. Even from a distance, I could tell Laphelia was angry. Her tail fur was standing up and her body was emitting magic power that made the air vibrate.

"I'm back."

When I called out, Laphelia turned around, scattering her anger.

"I've been waiting for you!"

Laphelia ran towards me with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

"What happened?"

I pray it's not something like rape.

From Motoyasu's reaction, I don't think it is, but I have no idea what happened.

"That's—"

Laphelia explained the situation.

I'll tell the rest of the story from Laphelia's perspective.

"What's starting?"

After I left, Filo asked Laphelia anxiously.

"It's fine. I'm just going to fight monsters with another hero until tomorrow evening."

"Hmm. What about Master?"

"A bit later."

While explaining to Filo, Laphelia was doing push-ups, waiting for Motoyasu.

I often forget, but Laphelia exercises whenever she has free time.

Even during the carriage ride, she does push-ups or pull-ups when she's not tanning monster hides.

Recently, her arm strength has improved to the point where she can do push-ups with just one finger.

This kind of physical training subtly affects her stats, making them grow little by little.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Motoyasu entered the room with a bouquet of flowers.

"Mmm..."

At that moment, Filo was taking a nap.

"677... 678..."

Laphelia was doing push-ups mindlessly.

Motoyasu dropped the bouquet at the sight.

Well, if you enter a room where a girl is waiting and she's sleeping and doing push-ups, you'd be speechless.

"Um..."

"680... Ah."

Laphelia stopped her push-ups and turned to Motoyasu.

"Welcome. Filo, wake up. He's here."

"Mmm... Filo is sleepy."

"A, ah..."

Motoyasu picked up the bouquet and entered the room.

"Please take care of me until tomorrow."

"Sure!"

"Ah, I've met you before, but let me introduce myself again. I'm Motoyasu Kitamura! I'm the Spear Hero. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Laphelia."

"Filo."

Motoyasu handed the bouquet to Laphelia and Filo in a flirtatious manner.

"Flowers suit you lovely girls."

"Hmm..."

Laphelia, who received the flowers, was thinking about what she could use them for and how much they could sell for.

As a girl, that's a bit odd, but maybe it's my fault for raising her to be efficient.

By the way, Laphelia asked if the flowers could be used for medicine.

I think they could be used as air fresheners.

"They don't taste very good."

Filo put a flower in her mouth.

Well, Filo prefers dango to flowers.

"Shall we go level up right away?"

"Let's go shopping at the market first."

"Sure."

So, Laphelia and the others went to the market with Motoyasu.

"This shop... is closed?"

"That's strange. I saw accessories being sold here just a while ago."

It turned out that Motoyasu was late because he was scouting the area.

"Well, it's fine. Let's visit other shops."

"Ah, okay."

They visited various shops and browsed for a few hours.

Moreover, when there were cute girls, they would talk to them.

"Wow! You're the Spear Hero?"

"Yeah, that's right. Do you have any questions for me?"

Motoyasu showed off his spear and talked to the girls, trying to impress them.

As a result, he was writing down the names of the inns where the girls were staying.

He was trying to pick them up.

While trying to appear kind, Laphelia's evaluation of Motoyasu was steadily decreasing.

After shopping—let's call it shopping—when they finally finished, Motoyasu walked out of the market in the opposite direction of the pier.

"Um... We've left the market."

"It's fine, let's take a look around."

"Huh? But we're supposed to level up..."

"By the way, Filo, can you turn into an angel?"

"No!"

Filo had followed them in monster form from the inn.

After that, they toured the tourist spots on Honjima, and by the time the sun started to set, they finally moved to another island.

While crossing the sea in a small boat during sunset.

"I found something good at the shop earlier."

Motoyasu handed Laphelia a souvenir made of shells.

"Um..."

"Don't worry, it's just a small gift."

By the way, Filo was swimming alongside the boat in monster form.

I can easily imagine the situation.

I'm listening to the story with a slightly awkward expression.

Except for the first girl's outburst, we were quiet. It was good that Filo wasn't there.

"Look, the sunset is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's beautiful."

The sunset over the vast sea was a beautiful sight for Laphelia. Water monsters flew out of the sea, overlapping with the sunset, creating a slightly romantic mood.

As Laphelia gazed at the sunset, Motoyasu grabbed her hand.

Laphelia quickly pulled her hand away, as if rejecting him.

Motoyasu shrugged, as if to say it was fine.

Laphelia said she was so irritated that veins popped on her forehead.

She responded with a smile, but she didn't let Motoyasu hold her hand again.

After they arrived at the island.

The sun had set, and they were preparing to fight monsters at night when Motoyasu confidently entered the inn.

"Um..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Aren't we going to level up?"

"The sun has set. It's dangerous to fight in such a situation."

"Well, but..."

"Let's rest and have dinner at the inn today. I'll cook, so look forward to it."

Laphelia realized that Motoyasu had bought various things at the market to cook.

Until then, she thought he was buying healing ointments and other light medicines.

"Dinner?"

"Yes, Filo. So, turn into an angel."

"No!"

Motoyasu was wary of Filo in monster form.

He had kicked him in the groin multiple times.

Then, Motoyasu showed off his cooking in the inn's kitchen, making Laphelia and Filo wait in a corner.

Laphelia thought I would eat the inn's food.

Well, I don't cook unless it's outdoors. At an inn, I would buy medicine or accessories. Recently, I've been studying magic.

"I can cook too, you know."

"R-really..."

With a sizzling sound, Motoyasu prepared a lot of dishes for Laphelia and Filo.

Laphelia nibbled on the food, while Filo ate heartily.

"It's not as delicious as Master's!"

"Shh! The Spear Hero will be upset..."

Motoyasu's cheeks twitched as he forced a smile.

"Seeing you eat so happily makes me happy too. By the way, Filo, can you turn into an angel?"

"No!"

How much does he like angels?

After that, they went to separate rooms. By then, Filo had finally turned into a human.

I had ordered Filo to turn into a human only inside the inn, because the floor would collapse otherwise.

"Are you going to sleep?"

"No..."

Before sleeping, Laphelia studied magic and did stretches.

"Wow, Filo, you look cute as an angel."

"Don't come near me!"

Filo really dislikes Motoyasu.

Motoyasu must have done something to make Filo dislike him.

When Filo was growing, he laughed and called her ugly, and then called her a fat bird and said she was ugly. It's no wonder she dislikes him.

"It's okay, I won't do anything."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

"Mmm..."

Filo lay on the bed with suspicion and started snoring.

However, her cowlick was standing up, indicating she wasn't sleeping well.

"..."

Motoyasu approached Filo silently.

"..."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just watch Filo sleep."

Laphelia frowned, suspicious of Motoyasu's actions.

"Hey, why don't we go to a bar and have a drink while Filo sleeps?"

"Huh?"

"Ah, you've never had a drink, right? It's okay, a little bit makes you more charming."

"Charming..."

Laphelia was intrigued by the word "charming" and ended up going to the bar with Motoyasu.

They sat at a bar and Motoyasu ordered drinks.

After a while, the drinks arrived.

It was Laphelia's first drink. It was red.

Motoyasu poured the drink into a glass.

"A toast to your eyes."

"..."

Motoyasu winked, and something snapped inside Laphelia.

"I'm going back because we have to get up early tomorrow."

She didn't drink the drink, suppressed her anger, and said with a smile, but the glass vibrated slightly from the magic power she was emitting.

"Huh? Ah—"

She went back to the inn, locked the door, and went to bed.

The next morning.

"Good morning."

Laphelia greeted Motoyasu, trying to pretend she had forgotten about yesterday.

"Ah, good morning, Laphelia. Filo too."

"Good morning."

Filo yawned and greeted them sleepily.

After a light breakfast at the inn, they finally set out to fight monsters.

But...

"I know how strong you are."

After fighting monsters for a while, Motoyasu stopped them.

"Huh?"

"Blood and dirt don't suit you lovely girls. I'll fight, so just watch me."

"Huh!?"

Motoyasu announced he would fight the monsters alone and ran off.

By the way, the monsters were weak enough for Filo to kill in seconds.

Of course, they would be one-hit kills for Motoyasu.

"Meteor Spear!"

Indeed, Motoyasu was strong.

But he struck a pose, flirted, sparkled with sweat, winked, and killed the monsters in a flashy manner.

"How about that?"

"———!"

Finally, Laphelia reached her limit.

"I don't know you, and you need to stop this nonsense!"

After that, her mind went blank, and when she came to, Motoyasu was trembling with a sheepish look in his eyes.

Suppressing her rising anger, they returned to the inn on Honjima, which was around noon.

By the way, Laphelia and Filo's levels only increased by 2, and they are now level 42.

Come on, I increased by 6 levels yesterday and today, and I'm now level 44.

Why are Laphelia and Filo's levels lower than mine...

Motoyasu... I didn't expect much from him, but to be even worse than that, what's going on?

I feel like there's some kind of conspiracy, but from what I've heard, I don't think there is.

In any case, the Spear Hero's evaluation in Laphelia's mind has fatally dropped.